La Derecha Diario Russia wants to hire one million workers from India by the end of 2025.
This is due to the lack of labor, as most Russian workers have been sent to the war in Ukraine
Russia plans to bring in up to one million Indian workers before the end of the year to replace Russian men sent to fight in Ukraine, according to Andrei Besedin, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Urals.
The initiative arises in a context marked by a growing labor shortage caused by the war in Ukraine and by Russia's structural demographic problems. Facing this scenario, Moscow seeks to strengthen its workforce by turning to countries beyond the former Soviet Union.
"Agreements have been reached, in particular, with India. According to my Indian colleagues, one million specialists from India will come to Russia, including the Sverdlovsk region, by the end of the year," Besedin stated during an interview.
As part of this bilateral collaboration, a new Indian consulate will open in the city of Ekaterinburg to facilitate the arrival and stay of Indian workers.
Besedin explained that these employees will help fill vacancies in key sectors such as metallurgical and mechanical engineering within Sverdlovsk, where the lack of personnel has become critical.
"Many local workers have left to participate in the conflict in Ukraine, while young people are not seeking work in factories," the official detailed.
Besedin also noted that efforts are underway to bring in workers from other countries, such as Sri Lanka and North Korea.
Regarding North Koreans, he commented: "They are good workers," although he admitted that integrating these foreign employees could pose a challenge. "We are used to migrants from nearby former Soviet republics who studied in Russia and speak the language. For now, we have no experience; it will be difficult, since our approaches and practices may differ," he warned.
Some Russian companies have already begun experimenting with the incorporation of Indian labor. In March, the Samolyot Group, a real estate development firm based in Moscow, launched a pilot program to hire construction workers from India.
Although executives highlighted positive aspects such as lower salary expectations and low job mobility compared to workers from Central Asia, they also faced several obstacles in implementation.
"The results have not been particularly successful," acknowledged Alexei Akindinov, the company's chief operating officer, attributing the initial problems to language barriers and cultural differences.
During the past year, more than 4,000 Indian immigrants applied for jobs in the city of Saint Petersburg alone, and workers from that country have already been registered in regions such as Kaliningrad and Moscow.
Meanwhile, the e-commerce platform Ozon has also brought in Indian employees to work both in warehouses and in technical roles.
In response to this growing phenomenon, the influential Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs proposed establishing vocational training centers in India, with the aim of training future workers specifically for the Russian labor market. This initiative is supported by the Minister of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, who assured that coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be carried out for its implementation.
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